A drug that is usually used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder also helped decrease binge-eating days in patients with binge-eating disorder (BED).
There are currently no approved medications for BED, but new research suggests a drug called lisdexamfetamine dimesylate could help, a news release reported.
BED is characterized by excessive food consumption accompanied by mental distress. The condition is usually treated with cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotherapy, but implementation of these treatments has not been widespread.
To make their findings the researchers compared lisdexamfetamine with placebo in 259 and 255 adults suffering from moderate to severe BED in a trial spanning from May 2011 through Jan. 2012. The medication was administered in doses of 30, 50 or 70 milligrams of the drug a day or a placebo.
The researchers found binge-eating days decreased in the 50 and 70 mg per day treatments, but not in the 30 mg group compared with the placebo group. The findings also showed the percentage of patients who successfully went four weeks without binge-eating was lower in the placebo group when compared with the 50 and 70 mg groups.
"In the primary analysis of this study of adults with moderate to severe BED, lisdexamfetamine dimesylate treatment with 50 and 70 mg [per day], but not 30 mg [per day] demonstrated a significant decrease (compared with placebo) in weekly BE days per week at week 11. Similarly, BE episodes decreased in the 50 and 70 mg [per day] treatment groups," the researchers wrote.
"The one-week BE episode response status was improved in the 50 and 70-mg [per day] treatment groups, and a greater proportion of participants achieved four-week cessation of BE episodes and global improvement of symptom severity with all lisdexamfetamine dosages. ... Confirmation of these findings in ongoing clinical trials may results in improved pharmacologic treatment for moderate to severe BED," they concluded.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the JAMA Network Journal.
